Iran Condemns Vienna's Visa Denial of Nuclear Chief Eslami — SkimNews
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- Iran condemned the exclusion of Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami from the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, calling it a "serious breach" of its rights as a member nation.
- Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, accused host Austria of violating its obligations by denying Eslami's visa, while Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Austrian chargé d'affaires.
- Russia's ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov backed Iran, saying Austria "grossly violated" its host-nation duties — part of a broader Russian-Chinese-Iranian rejection of the snapback sanctions' legality.
- Austria's ambassador Christian Ebner said a UN Security Council sanctions committee rejected Vienna's exemption request, legally obliging Austria to deny Eslami entry.
- U.S. ambassador Preston Wells Griffith confirmed Washington objected to the exemption, saying it "could not allow a UN designated official to travel … without any meaningful co-operation on nuclear safeguards."
- The sanctions reimposed last year via the snapback mechanism — triggered by France, Britain, and Germany — include a travel ban, conventional arms embargo, ballistic missile restrictions, and asset freezes.
- Since Israel and the U.S. struck Iran's nuclear sites in a June 2025 12-day war, the IAEA has been blocked from inspecting damaged facilities and cannot verify a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity — a short technical step from weapons-grade 90%.
Why it matters: The Vienna visa fight is the surface flashpoint of a deeper legal war: Iran, Russia, and China reject the snapback sanctions while the U.S. and E3 cite them to bar Iranian officials, leaving the IAEA unable to verify 440.9 kg of near weapons-grade uranium or inspect post-bombing sites. Iran gains a high-visibility platform to denounce the sanctions regime; Western powers preserve legal leverage but entrench the verification deadlock that triggered the first UN Security Council referral in 20 years.
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